Early Christians Beliefs

                   Are the beliefs of the church today
         the same as the beliefs in the first century?

As time passes by many things seem to evolve or change. If something about God or salvation is true today shouldn't it
be true for all time since God does not change? (Mal.3:6) It is true that if you take a story and verbally pass it down through
a hundred people or so the story will more than likely not be the same at the end as it was when it started. If the foundational
doctrines of the church are not the same today as in the beginning then we no longer posses the truth as Jesus and the
Apostles taught. This is why we must constantly go to the scriptures for answers. The bible is our written record of the truth
revealed to us by God. We are told in the bible that we should study the scriptures and also that the Holy Spirit can
teach us.

2 Tim 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I Jn 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach
you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in
Him. (NAS)

John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own
initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (NAS)

John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to
your remembrance all that I said to you. (NAS)

1 Cor 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. (NAS)

This same Holy Spirit that will teach us as we study to rightly divide the word of truth has also taught the people in
the beginning of the church. These people at the beginning of the church also had the advantage of being able to ask the
Apostles what was meant in the letters they wrote that are now our New Testament. For example Polycarp and Ignatius were
both men that studied under the Apostle John who wrote what we call the gospel according to John as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd
John and the book of Revelation. We have records of what Polycarp and Ignatius wrote. When you review what was written by
people that studied under the Apostles and then men that later studied under them you can see how they interpreted the
scriptures. Here is where we find conformation that the church today is indeed teaching the same basic truths that were taught
in the beginning of the church. There are some minor doctrines taught in churches today that are not found in the writings of
these men. For example the teaching that the church will be raptured before the Great Tribulation is not confirmed in the
writings of any of these men. However the foundational doctrines which the many Christian denominations hold in common are
confirmed in their writings.

The foundational doctrines that I am referring to are:
1. The reliability of scripture.
2. The doctrine of the Trinity declaring that the Father is God, Jesus is God and the Holy
Spirit is God and that these three persons are one singular God.
3. Jesus died for our sins on a cross.
4. Jesus was bodily raised from the dead and he will return.
5. Salvation is a free gift that cannot be earned.
6. Satan and Hell are not a myth, but a reality.

I would like to share some quotes by early Christian writers concerning these foundational beliefs. The quotes are found in THE
ANTE-NICENE FATHERS translations of The Writings of the Fathers down to a.d. 325. The Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D.,
James Donaldson, LL.D., Editors. These quotes are copied from the CD Rom version put out by Logos Research Systems,
Inc. The information below about the people quoted can be found in: A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Editor- David W.
Bercot.

The people quoted are:

1. Clement of Rome: 1st century, c. 95. Bishop of the church in Rome believed to be a companion of Peter and Paul
(Phil.4:3)
2. Clement of Alexandria c.150-215. Teacher at Alexandria, Egypt who was in charge of a school there.
3. Hippolytus: c. 170-236. A leading Presbyter in the church of Rome.
4. Hermas: 1st century, a bishop in Rome. Origen believed this is who Paul mentioned in Romans 16:14
5. Ignatius: c. 35-107. Bishop of the church of Antioch and a disciple of John.
6. Irenaeus: c.130-200. Bishop of the church of Lyons. He listened to Polycarp preach when he was young.
7. Polycarp: c.69-156. Bishop of the church at Smyrna and a disciple of John.
8. Justin Martyr: c. 100-165. Philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a strong evangelist and apologist.
9. Tertullian: c.160-230. Early apologist and once a presbyter in the church at Cathage.

1. The reliability of scripture.

Clement of Rome. Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume I, The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians Chapter XLV.
"Look carefully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances of the Holy Spirit. Observe that nothing of an unjust or
counterfeit character is written in them."

(In the same book in Chapter XLVII)
"Take up the epistle of the blessed Apostle Paul. What did he write to you at the time when the Gospel first began to be
preached? Truly, under the inspiration of the Spirit,"

Clement of Alexandria, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume II, The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Book IV, Chapter I
...having demonstrated that the Scriptures which we believe are valid from their omnipotent authority, we shall be able to go
over them consecutively, and to show thence to all the heresies one God and Omnipotent Lord to be truly preached by the law
and the prophets, and besides by the blessed Gospel.

(In the same Volume in book V Chapter XIII)
"Let him know that it was God Himself that promulgated the Scriptures by His Son. And he, who announces what is his own, is
to be believed. "No one," says the Lord, "hath known the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal Him."

Tertulian, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume III, On Prayer, Chapter XXII
"The apostle--guided, of course, by the same Spirit by whom, as all the divine Scripture, so that book Genesis, was drawn
up--has used the selfsame word in writing"

2. The doctrine of the Trinity.

Ignatius, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume I, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philippians Ch.2
"Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations, commanded them to "baptize in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," not unto one [person] having three names, nor into three [persons]
who became incarnate, but into three possessed of equal honour."

Tertullian, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume III, Tertullian Against Praxeas Chapter XXV.
"What follows Philip's question, and the Lord's whole treatment of it, to the end of John's Gospel, continues to furnish us with
statements of the same kind, distinguishing the Father and the Son, with the properties of each. Then there is the Paraclete or
Comforter, also, which He promises to pray for to the Father, and to send from heaven after He had ascended to the Father.
He is called "another Comforter," indeed; but in what way He is another we have already shown, "He shall receive of mine,"
says Christ, just as Christ Himself received of the Father's. Thus the connection of the Father in the Son, and of the Son
in the Paraclete, produces three coherent Persons, who are yet distinct One from Another. These Three are, one
essence, not one Person, as it is said, "I and my Father are One," in respect of unity of substance not singularity of number."

The following definition of "Paraclete" is by Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th edition. Par.a.clete n [ME Paraclyte, fr.
LL Paracletus, Paraclitus, fr. Gk Parakletos, lit., advocate, intercessor, fr. parakalein to invoke, fr. para- + kalein to call--more
at low] (15c): holy spirit

Tertullian here is referring to John 14: 9-16 where Jesus said he would ask of the Father and he would send the Holy Spirit also
referred to as another Comforter in the King James Version of the Bible. We see in this text that Tertullian referred to the
Paraclete as the Holy Spirit. Notice he stated that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were three persons that were distinct
from one another. He further stated that these three persons were one in essence. Tertullian just defined the Trinity. Compare
what Tertullian said to the following from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

TRINITY: The coexistence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the unity of the Godhead (divine nature or essence).
The doctrine of the trinity means that within the being and activity of the one God there are three distinct persons: Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

Hippolytus, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume V, Against the Heresy of One Noetus.
"Acknowledge God the Father Almighty, and Christ Jesus the Son of God, who, being God, became man, to whom also the
Father made all things subject, Himself excepted, and the Holy Spirit; and that these, therefore, are three. But if he desires to
learn how it is shown still that there is one God, let him know that His power is one. As far as regards the power, therefore, God
is one. But as far as regards the economy there is a threefold manifestation, as shall be proved afterwards when we give
account of the true doctrine.

2a. Jesus is God
Ignatius, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume I, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, Ch. 3
"For our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with the Father, is all the more revealed [in His glory].

Clement of Alexandria, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 2, Exhortation to the Heathen, The Instructor, Book 1, Chapter II
"Now, O you, my children, our Instructor is like His Father God, whose son He is, sinless, blameless, and with a soul devoid of
passion; God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father's will, the Word who is God, who is in the Father, who is
at the Father's right hand, and with the form of God is God. He is to us a spotless image; to Him we are to try with all our might
to assimilate our souls. He is wholly free from human passions; wherefore also He alone is judge, because He alone is sinless."

2b. The Holy Spirit is God
Clement of Alexandria, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume II, Fragments of Clemens Alexandrinus, III.--From the Catena on Luke,
Edited by Corderius.
"Luke 3:22. God here assumed the "likeness" not of a man, but "of a dove," because He wished, by a new apparition of the
Spirit in the likeness of a dove, to declare His simplicity and majesty."

Luke 3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "Thou art My
beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased."

Tertullian, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume III, Against Praxeas, Chapter XXX
"He will come again on the clouds of heaven, just as He appeared when He ascended into heaven. Meanwhile He has
received from the Father the promised gift, and has shed it forth, even the Holy Spirit--the Third Name in the Godhead, and the
Third Degree of the Divine Majesty; the Declarer of the One Monarchy of God, but at the same time the Interpreter of the
Economy, to every one who hears and receives the words of the new prophecy; and "the Leader into all truth," such as is in the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, according to the mystery of the doctrine of Christ.